For Whom the Bell Tolls
by TheFinalArbiter
Summary: Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee. Torn between giving Milly's hand to a noble suitor or a child with the royal blood of their oldest ally that could bring them to greater heights still, the Ashford family chooses the latter - under one condition. Lelouch must bring honour and glory back to their name - by any means necessary.
1. Chapter 1

_To Lucas: It had to be done._

~0o0o0~

* * *

Crack of the lightning split the dark red sky, thunder resounding inside of the dimly lit room and throwing the solitary desk and its accompanying chairs into stark contrast against the wall for a few moments. It was absolutely pouring outside, a torrential amount of water streaming from the heavens as if some higher force had simply left the tap running while they were away. It thundered against the windows outside in an unending pitter patter, desperate to get in.

Once again, the storm let its presence be known with a deafening roar, the flash of light now revealing a seated figure on one of the chairs at the far side of the table that was already set for a meal. Its back to the window as it faced the door, it patiently waited for something with a small smile on its half lit face. As the fat, orange ball of the evening sun tiredly slipped below the horizon and the heavy grey clouds with an unheard sigh, light slowly flooded the room - the inbuilt sensors in the walls recognizing the time and sending a command to their subordinates that proceeded to bathe it in a calm white aura.

The seated girl, and yes - it was most definitely a girl - crossed the long, _far_ too long legs peeking from underneath her modest skirt yet again, leaning back into the uncomfortable chair. She had been waiting for quite a long time - but it was hardly a new experience for her. Her previous company had been sent to bed with a whispered word of reassurance and a gentle squeeze on the shoulder, quietly closing the door behind itself with a squeak. Since then, the slow ticking of a wall mounted clock and the murmur of the rain outside were the only things breaking the silence.

Rose red lips curved into a smirk as footsteps resounded outside of the door, a pale hand reaching to pull a stray blonde lock behind an ear as muffled beeping from the wall mounted electronic lock preceded the opening of the door with a hiss, revealing a thin, yet still somewhat intimidating figure. It froze upon seeing its seated counterpart, hand nervously twitching before it relaxed and walked in.

The girl finally usurped the silence that had reigned over the small place for the past half an hour, a cheerful feminine tone chiding the other figure, "You're late, Lelouch."

The man crossed his arms defensively, mouth opening for a moment before his violet eyes glimpsed the richly set table, a solitary candle and three plates, one of which was already used and set aside for cleaning. His hand slowly clenched into a fist, his mouth curling into a frown before he spoke, "I am going to kill Rivalz, and there is nothing you can do to stop me."

She jumped out of the chair as he turned around and slammed the panel to open the door, grabbing him around the waist with both arms, desperately trying to pull back the furious figure as it did its best to stalk outside, its eyes shining with anger. "No. Lelouch, it's not worth it. Stop." She yelled at him, tone half-serious at most. He kept stomping on for a few steps, dragging the girl behind him into the hallway in a rather unseemly spectacle before turning around and hissing through gritted teeth.

"He-"

"Yes, but it's fine. It's just one homemade dinner, I can make it again." She shouted, her blue eyes now shining with worry as she desperately tried to calm him down, blonde hair flying everywhere in disarray.

"Homemade-" he started, his expression shifting from anger into genuine outrage. " _Rivalz._ " the boy roared out into the dark hallway, grunting against the girl who dug her heels into the ground, trying to pull him back with all her strength, "I'm going to _kill_ him. Where _is he_?."

With a yell of triumph, she managed to trip up one of his feet, sending them both to the ground with a surprised squeak from her and a grunt from him as she landed on his back. They lay still for a few moments on the ground before she started chuckling, the giggle turning into an honest, full blown laugh that did more to soothe his anger than a bucket of cold water could have.

He braced himself against the wall and stood up, leaning down to pull the tall girl up by her hand. Wiping a few stray tears from her face, she grinned before hugging him tightly, squealing with joy at she sensed his much calmer mood. He reciprocated the hug after a moment, patting her back and murmuring, "I swear you get taller every day. If you're not careful, you'll just keep growing until you surpass me."

"Oh, I don't think I'd like that very much." Milly Ashford honestly replied, tilting her head to look up at the boy, barely half a head taller than her. "Then I wouldn't be able to do this." she said with a wink, hiding her face in the crook of his neck and filling his nose with the rich citrusy smell of her shampoo. He gently patted her back once again, well used to tolerating and making most of his current situation by now.

One of the many doors in the hallway opened barely half a dozen meters away, an orange-haired student peeking out with a frown, "I thought I heard… Milly? Is that you?" she looked to the left, her wide green eyes widening even further at the sight of the two embracing teenagers.

With a yell that made Lelouch turn towards her with a carefully structured blank expression, she shook her arms in their direction, "I'm sorry." She shouted, nervously looking left and right." I didn't… I'm so sorry, I'll go away now." She babbled.

His lips remained clenched tight as the door slammed closed, repeating a mantra inside himself that had helped him get through situations such as this one many times in the past. I am a rock, nothing affects me, he thought as the blonde started openly laughing at his expression. I will let the emotions wash over and under me, leaving me behind as I am now. I am a rock, nothing affects me.

"Lelouch." She whispered, his hand catching hers as she leaned away and tried to pinch his cheek. "Am I making you angry?" She asked, the adorable blue eyes staring up at him with fake hurt.

He remained impassive, repeating the mantra inside himself as he looked at her, intertwining his fingers with hers before he lowered their now linked hands. "Of course not." he said through gritted teeth, the smile on his face fake enough that it wouldn't fool even the dumbest idiot. "Why, I'd like to eat some of that dinner now, before _any more_ students walk out and find their _President_ and _Treasurer_ in this position."

He skillfully interrupted her next argument before it could start by twirling around and pulling her behind him, her long legs keeping up with ease as she fell in step beside him. The room looked much the same as it had before their little escapade. Closing the door, he deftly shook off her hand before taking a seat at the side of the table, the tall blonde plopping down on a chair next to his and looking at him with a grin.

Lelouch looked at the veritable feast spread before him with a deep, disappointed sigh, letting the girl fill his plate for him as he leaned back, massaging his forehead as he finally let all the stress that had accumulated in his muscles seep out, his shoulders drooping as he relaxed his rigid posture.

"... and this is the pork we prepared. We've spent a lot of time on it, I'll have you know." She continued her lecture, ignoring the fact that he was barely listening to her with well practiced ease. "She wanted to wait for you a bit longer, but I sent her to bed. She was just worried about you, you know?" she peeked at him out of the corner of her eye as she finished adding vegetables to the pile on his plate before putting it in front of him.

"And there you go, I hope you enjoy it." she said, leaning over to give him a small kiss on the cheek which made him open his eyes, blinking at the sudden intensity of the light coming from above. Slowly taking his fork, he speared a piece of meat - which he absentmindedly noticed she had already thoughtfully cut for him - and brought it to his mouth, chewing the cold mouthful for a long few seconds before swallowing.

He turned around to Milly who had already filled her plate and was quietly eating beside him, letting him have a bit of free time without interruptions. Leaning over, he gently pulled a loose lock of blonde hair behind her ear, brushing her cheek in the process and making her turn towards him with a curious look, "It's delicious, you did a great job." He quietly said while cupping her cheek and making her grin before she turned back to her meal, looking noticeably happier at his mood.

They both started eating as the rain pounded against the glass with renewed vigor, as if trying to interrupt the peaceful atmosphere between them. "And how was your day?" she asked innocently, cutting her baked potatoes into tiny chunks which she proceeded to eat with pleasure, her posture rigid and manners impeccable as always.

"Four games." he replied shortly, spearing a small steamed mushroom. "Delicious." He repeated again in satisfaction.

"Four? I was wondering why you were so late." She replied, waving her knife at him as she continued, "You need to give Rivalz a piece of your mind for keeping you out so long. But _without_ beating his face in over a missed dinner, Lelouch." She quickly added as his expression started shifting into a nasty smile she was well used to recognizing and running interference on before it could manifest itself in his thoughts and actions.

He put down his fork and leaned back into the chair with a non-committal sigh, crossing his arms in thought as she continued talking, "Did you win, at least?" she asked curiously, eyes darting to and fro from his face to gauge his expression.

He looked at her with a confident smirk that only grew wider as she clapped excitedly before pumping a fist with triumph, "That's my fiancé." She said proudly, uncaring about the pieces of salad that flew from her fork, covering the table and the floor next to her chair which he noticed and made a mental remark to clean up later before speaking up.

"Two hundred thousand crowns." he quietly announced.

She slowly put her hand down, azure eyes narrowing into a frown as she thought she misheard him. He shrugged in return. "Seventy-thirty split as usual. I'd say it was worth missing your homemade cooking, but…" he trailed off, turning back and looking at her with a small smile. "I'd be lying."

"Flattery won't work on me, Lelouch." She threatened, waving her fork at him even as her pale cheeks flushed with a light tinge of red. "That's a lot of money, what are you going to do with it?"

Lelouch shrugged uncaringly. "What do I do with any of it? Put it on a pile so we can spend it later, of course." His eyes flashed towards her, narrowing at her expression. "My goal is still quite far out of our reach, but every little bit helps."

"Well…" She put her utensils down, turning around on her chair towards him and crossing her legs. He frowned at the uncharacteristically nervous behavior she was showing him. "I know that you... worry about the money sometimes, but the Academy is earning more than enough for me to-"

"Milly." He called her, turning to face her and taking one of her hands in his own, squeezing her long digits. "Two hundred thousand is nothing to sneeze at. I don't want to hear any objections from you - or your family regarding this. I've taken enough from them already."

She looked up at him uncomfortably, her normally cheerful behavior nearly completely absent as she shuffled on her seat before huffing and conceding defeat to his narrowed look. "Fine. You won't hear any objections from me, but Lelouch?" She blinked up at him shyly, making his lips tighten into a thin line as he recognized the pattern preceding her intimidation tactics and steeled his heart and mind as she spoke. "No more missed dinners, okay?"

He abruptly deflated as the expected trap never came, reaching over to her seated form to give her another hug that made her grin just out of his sight. "Alright, it's a promise between us." He said, kissing her forehead before standing up and stretching. "I'd be willing to bet all of the money I earned today that my little sister isn't _sleeping yet_." He stressed the last few words, the expression on his face unchanging as he heard a muffled thump coming from the wall leading to Nunnally's bedroom.

Ignoring Milly's badly muffled chuckle, he slowly opened the door to the still illuminated bedroom and walked in, his heart soaring with happiness as he saw his sister sitting up in bed with a sly grin, her wide blue eyes peering up at him innocently. "Brother, I'm glad you could make it home. Did you have a busy day?" She asked as he sat down on the bed next to her, patting her brown hair affectionately.

"I suppose you could say that. Are you keeping up with your studies?" He asked, making her grin widen as she leaned over to the side table and proudly presented him a Britannian history test with a _100_ scrawled on top.

"There you go." He grinned widely, giving her a tight hug that made her giggle with happiness.

"You should try and keep up with your studies too, Lelouch." She said, waving a finger at him threateningly when they separated. "You wouldn't want your younger sister to surpass you in grades, would you?"

"Well, to be honest…"

She cut him off, speaking louder to be heard over the thundering rain outside. "I know you would, but that's not the point." She continued, leaning back against the piled pillows. "I know you're busy out there, but I'd be a lot happier if I knew my big brother wasn't neglecting his education to earn money. No matter how much of it we're talking about." She finished quietly, looking up at him with a frown that would normally be effective on any lesser soul, but only served to make Lelouch smile.

Giving up with a huff, she put the paper on the table yet again and pulled up her white blankets. "It's been a long day, you should go to sleep too." She said. He nodded in return, tucking her in besides her protests and ruffling her hair.

"I will. Good night, Nunnally." He said, standing up and walking towards the door.

"Good night, Lelouch." He heard her say quietly before he closed the door behind him, leaning back against it and crossing his arms with a small smile when he saw Milly had already tidied up the table and was now busy making tea for both of them in the small adjoining kitchen. Crossing the room, he gently plucked the box holding the teabags out of her hands, making her look up at him with a confused blink.

He slid past her and started on the kettle while quietly humming a tune, his back silently communicating that she had already done far too much for him and that he'd be damned before he'd let her take another step in the kitchen. Not quite understanding his attempted telepathy, but smart enough to realize that she was unwanted in the kitchen after a second of looking at him, the girl leaned up and gave him a small kiss on the cheek before walking out and taking a seat on the sofa while turning on the large television with a click, the noise of the rain outside now joined by the murmuring voice of the news announcer.

Bringing in two cups of steaming hot tea on a tray a few minutes later, Lelouch found Milly with her legs artfully crossed as she sat on the sofa, posture still rigid as if she was sitting on a formal dinner. Putting the tray down on the table, he joined her, frowning when he heard the voice on the television. "Twelve more terrorists were executed this morning as a sign of warning to the few remaining rebel groups in Area Eleven. Prince Clovis has made an official announcement, which we'll bring you in-"

The channel changed as Lelouch pressed a button with a deep sigh, making Milly look at him with worry."I'm sorry, I-" She quietly said, interrupted as he leaned over and pulled her close, leaning his head on top of hers as they shared a few quiet moments, watching a cheerful yellow blob jumping up and down on the screen as it advertised a new type of pizza on sale in the capital of the Area.

"There's a reason I don't like watching news." He murmured into her silky blonde locks as she leaned further against him, folding her legs under her on the sofa. "You know I don't like looking at him any more than I have to."

"I'll keep it in mind in the future." She said quietly, before leaning away and smoothing her sad expression into a smile once more. "I should probably get going, we have classes tomorrow."

"I wonder…"

He trailed off, looking away from her with a blank look that made her gasp with fake outrage, bringing a hand to her mouth. "Lelouch Lamperouge, you _would not_." She said, making him chuckle before coughing, waving away her fake anger.

"Your father would kill me long before I could try anything. Speaking of people killing me…" He frowned at the wall mounted clock. "I'm rather sure Shirley saw us in the hallway. You should check in with her before you go back to your room."

She frowned as she put on her shoes next to the door, tapping them against the wall before replying. "You're right. They know we're engaged, but me encouraging such improper behavior would be…"

He hummed in agreement, standing up and pulling her into a hug before she could exit, leaning back and giving her a long look that made her blush all over again, weak as she was against him. "You know I don't normally apologize, but I'm sorry you had to wait so long."

She grinned at him, her usual teasing expression close to surfacing. "I love you, Lelouch. Good night." she whispered before pressing a button to open the door from the inside and exiting with a small wave, making him smile as he saw her slowly walk off down the hallway towards Shirley's room.

"Not everyone is as lucky as I am." He murmured into his chin, closing the door and grabbing his laptop from the table before taking a seat back on the sofa, catching the barest hint of citrus from her previous position. "Now, to have another look at that stock market..." He tapped on his laptop as the battering of the drops on the window outside doubled in intensity, another small rumble of thunder in the distance sounding off before it went quiet.

The rain kept falling.

0o0o0o0o0o0

* * *

Long A/N: Hello and welcome to this new story of mine. This was but a small taste of what is to come, and the _next chapter_ will be significantly more meaty and have the start of our plot. I'm sure you've noticed some of the rather obvious changes from cannon, and I can promise you they will be by far the biggest ones we'll encounter on our journey.

This story will be about exploring the world of Code Geass from a different perspective. It will not be a rehashed vanilla experience you're likely well used to reading by now, but something fresh and interesting that I hope can keep you occupied for a while.

It will not affect the update rate or quality of the updates for All Hail Britannia, and I am fully confident I will be able to handle both stories at once.

Thank you for reading, and I'll see you soon.


	2. Chapter 2

~0o0o0~

* * *

The soothing rays of the dawning sun and the muffled tweeting of the birds outside of the dormitory greeted Lelouch as he quietly made coffee in the kitchen, wincing every time his cup rattled against the small plate as he brought the finished product into the living room. Pausing to make sure his sister was still sleeping in her room, he sat down at the large dining table with a deep sigh and leaned forward to rub the sleepiness out of his eyes, cursing himself on the inside for tossing and turning in his bed for so long last night.

The awful weather from the past day had been slowly clearing up as the sun rose above the horizon, a strong gush of wind from the east blowing the clouds away and bathing Ashford Academy with rays of weak, yet steady sunlight. It was just before seven in the morning, and, as far as he knew, hardly anyone on the grounds was awake.

With a yawn, he proceeded to lean against the back of the rather uncomfortable chair and stare up at the ceiling as the light reflected off of the windows slowly, oh so slowly crept across its white surface. He still remembered the moment he had wheeled his sister into their new rooms for the first time, full of hope for the future and what it could entail for them.

All thanks to the Ashfords, of course, he thought as he took the first sip of the hot beverage after carefully blowing the steam away. His mother's closest allies had been placed in a rather precarious situation when the boy had come to their door, carrying his crippled sister on his back. Forced between either turning them away and potentially having the pair of disinherited royal heirs dying on the streets or honouring their debt to his mother, they had chosen the latter, taking them in and treating them as their own. It was something he was still determined to repay to this day.

His thoughts naturally drifted to Milly, as they always did when he thought about their benefactors, making him smile fondly. They had quickly become an inseparable pair of friends, and he had had the pleasure of being there as the small, cheerful girl grew up into a rather _impressively sized_ \- and he chuckled at his own private joke - and outgoing young woman.

The tight bonds of their friendship had never wavered even as they hit their mid teens, culminating after an event where her parents had been forced to make yet another decision - force their daughter to marry a suitable suitor of their choice to regain her family's wealth, power and connections - or play a far riskier game in offering her hand to the young disinherited, disgraced boy with barely anything to his name.

A risky gamble, to be sure - but royal blood was royal blood, and the strength of the bond between Marianne Lamperouge and the Ashfords had never wavered, which ultimately tipped the scales in the boy's favour after his talk with Milly's grandfather - the Headmaster of Ashford Academy. There was only one condition, the senior Ashford had told the young man - to do his best to bring back honour to the name of Ashford. And Lelouch, after a period of deliberation, had accepted, vowing to uphold his part of the deal.

He had also asked for a favour - to be allowed to propose to the girl himself, and that she be allowed to make the final decision. Now _that_ was a memory worth remembering. It was truly a shame he hadn't dared bring along a camera that day, shaking with nerves as he was. The girl's expression was something he would treasure forever.

His reminiscence was cut short by the quiet hiss of the door to their chambers being opened, letting in a modestly dressed Eleven-looking maid who blinked in surprise upon seeing him before bowing deeply, "Master Lelouch, it's a surprise to see you up so early. There's still an hour before you have to leave." she quietly said with a very slight accent that never failed to amuse Nunnally.

"Things on my mind, Sayoko. Hard to sleep." he whispered back, pinching the bridge of his nose with a deep breath to wake himself up faster before looking up at her, "Please, go ahead. I was just about to leave."

With another bow, the maid quietly opened the door to his sister's room, making him smile as he thought of Nunnally's adorable blue eyes blinking up at her in confusion when she was forced to wake up to another grueling day of school work. Resisting the temptation to go in and do it himself, he drained the last of his coffee before putting on the upper part of his Ashford Academy uniform over his white shirt and walking out of the room.

It was going to be a rather busy day.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Milly Ashford had just been putting finishing touches on her makeup in front of a rather ornate mirror when a quiet knock sounded from the faux-wooden door leading to the outside. Frowning, she padded over the carpeted floor with bare feet, still in her nightgown, pushing a button on a side panel to reveal Lelouch's tired face on the small screen. With a gasp, she turned around and quickly shoveled her supplies into a small leather padded box before slamming it into one of the drawers in the specially built makeup table below the large mirror.

Giving herself another moment to comb her hair, making sure there was definitely no bedhead present to affect his opinion of her, she opened the door and attempted to pull Lelouch in by his collar only to have him quickly lean back, looking at her surprised expression with his own to match, "Good morning." he quietly said after a second, leaning against the wall just inside the doorway and enjoying her confused face.

Not one to be outsmarted by a younger boy, she squeaked and hugged his tense body for a few moments, "You came to wish me good morning before leaving? Such a gentleman, I can hardly believe it." She said in a quiet, yet high pitched tone that made him grin before he could smooth his expression over, lightly pushing her away.

"Coffee?" he asked, gesturing to the small thermos he carried, "We still have some time."

"Oh, I shouldn't, that stuff is addictive." She said with a frown, before smiling, "Just this once." She whispered with an exaggerated wink as if they were sharing a deep secret, pushing a button to close the door before walking towards the small kitchen and pulling out a pair of cups while he took a seat on the sofa, raising an eyebrow at the state of the room.

"I'm impressed, Milly. Not even my room is this tidy."

She padded back into the living room, cups held between her long fingers and grinned, sitting down close - far too close, their legs stuck together - next to him and placing them on the matching pair of saucers on the long table, "I wasn't so tidy a year ago, I'll have you know." she said, slipping her arms around his waist as he slowly poured the hot beverage into the cups, "That was before a certain _something_ happened, of course. A good wife needs to learn her way around the house." she teased him with a wink, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder and making him chuckle.

"Are you trying to mark me, woman?"

"Well…" she slowly started, reaching for the cup and taking a small sip, her eyes widening, "This is rather good, how did you know how I like it?"

She looked at him in genuine surprise, making him look at her incredulously for a moment, "Truly? I suppose I just got lucky." he said modestly, hand raised to ruffle her hair before her sudden glare stopped him, and he awkwardly put it down, cupping her cheek which resulted in an approving murmur as she rubbed against it.

"Liar, that's not like you at all." she murmured.

"What was I saying?" the blonde continued, "Oh." She suddenly brightened, clinging onto Lelouch with one hand while the other gestured around, "I hope none of the girls saw you come in here. They've grown used to having you sharing the dormitory building because of your sister, but I don't think they'd be too happy if they saw you sneaking into a _lady's_ room so early in the morning."

"Hmm? Well, you do look like quite the lady right now. That nightgown suits you well, though it looks like it belonged to your grandmother." he muttered, the blonde letting out a rather fake sounding gasp of shock before laughing yet again with a small blush, her voice slowly trailing off into giggles as she continued.

"Yes, well, putting my choice of sleeping attire aside, Shirley was also a bit distressed by what she saw last night."

"Can't say I'm surprised by that." he replied neutrally, enjoying the rich scent of the brew in front of him and the pleasant - and rather large - softness pressed against his side. Sometimes, his life truly felt like heaven, he privately mused as he peeked up at the ceiling, "Did you talk to her?"

"She likes you, Lelouch." Milly bemoaned, aggressively rubbing her head against him with a smirk and making him quickly put the cup down with a curse before he spilled the hot liquid everywhere, "I won't allow it." She shouted dramatically, "That girl needs to learn her place, no approaching my Lulu."

He looked down at her and grimaced, "I told her not to call me that. And now _you_?" he hissed, making her huff.

"Fine, fine, I won't use it outside - but you can't stop me from using it when it's just the two of us, you know. It wouldn't be very nice of you." she looked up at him, all blue eyes and red cheeks until he looked away uncomfortably, grimacing when she let out a hiss of triumph, giving him a small peck on the cheek which he stoically tolerated.

They reveled in the shared closeness for a while, enjoying their coffee and talking about silly nothings until he looked up at the clock and cursed out loud. She shifted around from her position, draped as she was over him and yawned, "What is it?"

"Business." he replied, gently shaking her off before standing up and stretching, rubbing his hands together before he pulled out his phone and saw no less than four missed messages from Rivalz, "Oh, Darwin." he murmured, turning around to inform her he would be leaving only to pull up short at the look of anger on her face.

"Lelouch, you need to go to your classes too. I can't keep covering for you forever." she threatened him, the intimidation factor severely reduced by her seated position as he towered over her.

Perhaps it was the lack of sleep affecting him, but he couldn't resist leaning forward and affectionately messing up her carefully styled blonde locks. She yelped in surprise before jumping - _jumping_ \- at him from her seat and pinning him to the floor, their short struggle ending up with the athletically superior blonde sitting on his chest as he struggled to breathe, waving his arms around helplessly, "Milly." He yelled. "Damn it, woman, this is important." He heaved, making her stop her laughing and peer at him suspiciously from her now superior vantage point.

"How serious?"

"Too much to miss." he croaked, which finally made her relent with a groan, getting off of him and pulling him up into a seated position. After spending a few moments gathering his breath, he finally spoke up, clearing his throat as she absentmindedly fixed his collar for him, "I'll head straight back as soon as it's over, and I won't miss a single class tomorrow. Deal?" he asked her.

She huffed in disappointment but agreed, "It's a deal, Lelouch. But so help me, if you break your promise…" she poked her finger at him threateningly which simply made him smile and lean forward to pull her into a short hug that she happily reciprocated, her cheerful mood easily restored before standing up.

"I'd never do that to you." he said, barely resisting the urge to laugh as he saw her still sitting on the floor, her white nightgown rumpled and her hair sticking out in more than a few places after their small tussle, "You might want to check yourself in the mirror before you go." he told her, glancing up at the small wall mounted clock, "You don't have much time."

Milly narrowed her eyes in suspicion before standing up and looking at her reflection. Her mouth open in shock as she beheld her appearance, she dropped down onto the small chair and quickly picked up a hairbrush to straighten out her golden locks, "Lelouch." She called out before he could walk out, "Stay safe." they locked eyes through the mirror for a moment, a silent understanding passing between them. He nodded, the door closing behind him with a hiss as he walked out.

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Buddy." Rivalz waved at him as he exited the female dormitory into the cool air of the morning, a bag slung over his shoulder. Ignoring the cheerful greeting, which made the blue haired boy frown, he threw the bag into the sidecar ahead of him before jumping in himself, crossing his legs and staring straight ahead like the other teen wasn't even there.

Rivalz slowly lowered his hand, looking around in confusion as he tried to pinpoint the reason for Lelouch's odd behavior before shrugging it off as an odd morning mood and, after jumping in the driver's seat, starting up the bike with a kick on the pedal, the machine letting out a roaring noise that echoed throughout the empty, quiet courtyard before he slowly drove them away and out onto the road.

"What's up with you, Lelouch?" he shouted over the sound of wind whipping by them as they rounded a sleek looking grey car a few minutes later, aiming for a side road on the right. Lelouch, giving up on staying silent with all the noise around them, settled for yelling at the boy over the screaming sound of wind gushing by.

"She made me promise not to kill you, Rivalz, but that's where that promise ends. Let's keep this as a business relationship, how many games today?"

"Oh." Rivalz yelled back, his mind automatically filtering out the first part of Lelouch's yelled statement as he heard the word _business_ , his dull eyes taking on a new shine of greed, "Two chess matches and a poker game." He yelled back, "We're going to miss all the classes, but it's well worth it."

Lelouch growled and leaned over to pull Rivalz's hair towards him in an iron grip, making the boy yell in pain as they swerved around a car, "Hey, come on." Rivalz yelled, desperately trying to keep control of the vehicle. Lelouch screamed into his ear to be heard over the surrounding cars and trucks.

"One match, Rivalz. That's all we're doing today." he released his grip, letting the other teen concentrate on driving while expertly ignoring the outraged screaming protests at his side as they sped down the highway towards the settlement.

Fifteen minutes of fast, reckless driving later found them in front of a rather large hotel - a massive monstrosity made by an unholy combination of glass and steel that dwarfed the surrounding buildings even though they were near the center of downtown. He hopped out of the sidecar with a small grunt, slowly walking towards the entrance while Rivalz dismounted and sprinted to catch up, "They'll give me another ticket, Lelouch." He whined, waving his arms around and making the other boy quirk a lip at the small act of revenge.

The large glass doors slid aside with a hum, allowing them entrance into the pleasantly warm interior that practically screamed of high class, radiating opulence that made even Lelouch, who had lived in some of the very finest villas in the world grimace at the bad taste it left in his mouth, "Upstairs, is it?" he murmured to Rivalz who grinned as his good buddy finally opened up.

"Room six. We're running slightly late, I don't know if the old man can hold on for much longer." he joyfully said as they climbed the set of stairs.

"We'll see, what's the risk factor?"

"We should be fine as long as you don't get too cocky." Rivalz whispered as they approached the door leading to their destination, "He's too prideful to try and cheat, and too honourable to back out out of paying us."

Lelouch muttered something in agreement, nodding to a tall, powerfully built man standing in front of them. Glancing at their uniforms, he smirked before opening the door and letting them in, "Let's make this quick, then." he whispered to his companion, smoothing over his expression into one of neutral curiosity as the door closed behind them with a slam.

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Boy, Lelouch." Rivalz yelled as they went down the stairs again precisely ten minutes later, feeling considerably better now that their proverbials coffers have been filled with a rather generous amount of a hundred thousand crowns, "I wasn't expecting that. Are you sure that we can't-"

"Come on, Rivalz, we already talked about this." he replied, cutting off the argument before it could even start, "I made a promise."

"Promise? Wait, are you talking about Milly again?" Rivalz asked, his hands folded behind his head as they exited the building into the now slightly warmer sunlight, "You lucky bastard, I could only dream of getting a girl like that-" he cringed as a loud voice boomed from a large building-mounted screen reserved for official broadcasts from the Viceroy, turning around to look at it with a low whistle, "Terrorists again?"

Lelouch stopped, following his gaze and frowning at the news announcer on the screen before continuing down the stairs, jumping into the sidecar of Rivalz's motorcycle and looking at the other boy expectantly, making him raise an eyebrow, "You're in a hurry. Don't you want to listen to the broadcast?" Rivalz said, walking down the stairs at a considerably slower pace.

"I'm simply not particularly interested in politics." Lelouch replied distractedly, opening the small book he had been reading on their way here and continuing where he had left off, looking forward to a calm trip back to the academy.

The blue haired boy stopped next to the driver's seat, grimacing at the screen, "But the Viceroy-"

"Thirty minutes, Rivalz." He yelled at him as a large truck passed them by with a deafening roar, "That's how much time we have before we have to be at the academy to get to next class." he pointed a finger at the boy who shrugged his shoulders before jumping onto the motorcycle, pulling a parking ticket from the front of the small windshield with a growl before laughing as he remembered their new earnings.

"I'd usually get angry, but with the money we just made…" he shook his blue hair, putting on his driver's glasses and rubbing his hands with satisfaction.

With a few revs, they were on their way back to the outskirts of the city, moving towards Ashford Academy at a steady pace. The settlement was as busy as they expected it to be on a workday morning, humming cars and purring motorbikes passed them on both sides, a constant murmur of Britannian voices coming from all around them as people went to work and school, coupled with a few yells from Elevens at their small stalls on the sidewalk.

Rivalz was taking care to drive a bit safer than usual, remembering Lelouch's previous instructions, but frowned as he saw that the highway they had just joined was unusually clear of cars, "It's a bit too empty today, what is going-"

It seemed that today was his unlucky day, getting interrupted yet again as a truck horn blared from behind, startling both teens hard enough to make Lelouch drop his book in shock. With a frightened yelp, Rivalz pulled to the right before getting back in the lane with a swerve to the left. Turning around, he raised a fist and started screaming obscenities at the truck driver who simply blared again in return, unable to pass them by, before swerving hard to the left as an opening in the side of the road appeared, seemingly in a great hurry.

Shocked even further, they mutely watched as it roared forward before slamming into the side of a construction site with a deafening boom and bringing the better part of the façade crashing down around it, a cloud of smoke and dust kicking up and blinding them momentarily. Rivalz coughed, "Did we... do that?"

Lelouch stood up, pulling off the pair of driving glasses his friend had given him and frowning as he looked at the crash site. The smoke was slowly clearing up, but something he had seen made him narrow his eyes. It was almost like a hallucination, an illusion - a slight whisper tingling at the edges of his mind. He focused on the vehicle, a small sensation in his heart pulling him forward before he caught himself at the edge of the concrete barrier, clenching at his chest for a moment with a quiet groan of discomfort.

Britannian citizens started flooding the floors of the settlement below them, screaming and whooping with surprise as they took pictures and videos of the crash site, seemingly uncaring of the driver's fate. More than a few looked at them, muttering among themselves as they saw their uniforms. Grimacing in disgust, he turned away and looked back at Rivalz, "Come on, they might bring us in if we stick around."

The blue haired boy nodded, already revving the engine to get it started as Lelouch retook his seat, "You don't have to tell me twice." He yelled, pulling away from the edge and speeding down the road away from the small crowd. Lelouch did his best to ignore the small feeling tugging at his heart. After a few more seconds of persistent tingling, it gave up with a final sigh as they moved away, leaving him feeling unusually sad. He pushed the odd emotion away, focusing on his book once more while shaking his head at what they had just witnessed.

Far, far away behind them, C.C.'s heart started beating for the first time in days, clenching painfully inside her chest for a moment as she lay suspended inside of her capsule before calming down a few seconds later. Barely managing a blink, she unconsciously buried the sudden feeling of regret that welled up from her memories deep inside her, drifting off into a deep sleep once more with a distant memory of flashing violet eyes and a calm smile hushing her into silence, sinking ever deeper into the black void that enveloped her from all sides.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Milly's phone rang just as she was sitting down in the courtyard to have her early lunch with Shirley, Nina and a tired looking Nunnally. Looking at the name of the caller, her expression turned from a cheerful smile she usually wore into a small frown. She waved away Shirley's questioning look, pressing a button to answer, "Hello?"

"Milly, we might be a bit late. There's a… problem." Lelouch spoke loudly to be heard over the sound of blaring sirens and shouting of the angry drivers, "Something's going on in Shinjuku Ghetto, the army's blocked all the roads and we can't turn around." he stood up in his sidecar, blocking out the sun from his eyes with one hand and looking back to where an endless column of traffic stretched as far back as he could see.

She frowned, then started grinning again when she realized that he had taken the time to call her, which meant he was planning to keep his promise, "It's fine. I'm just glad you didn't choose to skive off again, Lelouch."

Nunnally looked up from the hushed conversation she was having with Nina, blinking up at Milly as she heard her brother's name. "Do you need me to do anything?" Milly continued, unconsciously twirling one of her blonde locks around a finger, making the other girls share slightly disturbed looks at her odd behaviour.

"Not right now." Lelouch replied, sitting back down and looking at Rivalz who was desperately trying to explain their situation to one of the heavily armoured soldiers to no avail, as the man's helmeted head simply kept looking at him without replying, "They're not letting anyone through, I'll call you if we manage to do something."

The blonde huffed, "Today of all days, just when you happened to be in the settlement. I ought to call up Prince Clovis and give him-" she shouted, pausing when she saw that the three other girls had stopped their conversations and started looking at her oddly. She smiled sweetly, taking a deep sigh to calm herself, "Stay safe, Lelouch."

Nunnally spoke up as Milly put away her phone, "You know, Milly, you get a very interesting look on your face when you talk to my brother." she said with a small grin. Shirley nodded along with a small hum.

"Do I really?" she replied in slight surprise, still unconsciously twirling one of her locks.

The young girl giggled in reply, placing a hand over her mouth when the blonde looked at her with narrowed eyes, "It's not a bad thing, but I do feel slightly jealous." she confessed shyly, looking down. Milly's gaze whipped to Shirley who was looking away in an attempt to unsuccessfully feign disinterest in the conversation, the small blush on her cheeks giving her away.

The President of the Student Council was in a rather precarious position. Denying the effect Lelouch had on her would only lead to more teasing, while accepting it would do no wonders for the confident image she projected. The only option left to her was to go on offense, and that is precisely what she did. He would be proud of her.

"Well I'm jealous as well." She shouted, leaning over and gripping Nunnally's cheeks with both hands, making the smaller girl yelp in shock, waving her arms around in an attempt to reach her wheels and roll away. Not willing to give up her advantage, Milly pulled her into a hug instead, cooing, "Such a cute little thing, I'm never going to let one of those dirty _boys_ touch you." Milly yelled, glaring at a pair of male students who were passing by, their pace getting noticeably faster as they noticed her gaze.

Cheeks blazing red with all the attention she was drawing, Nunnally was left with no choice but to yell out for help from Shirley. The orange haired girl turned away, quickly shaking her head from side to side, silently communicating she had no wish to get between Milly and her latest toy. Nina finally spoke up to defuse the situation, clearing her throat, "M-Milly, she won't be able to eat her lunch if you don't let her go." she quietly said.

The blonde unhappily let go, sighing in disappointment even as she gloated over her triumph on the inside, "You're right, we'll need all of our strength to get through today." she replied, going back to her makeshift seat, "I knew making you the Vice President was a good decision, Nina. Your confidence can only go up from here." she confidently said, stabbing a plastic fork at the girl who hunkered down in response, quietly eating her lunch.

"Is Lelouch fine?" Nunnally quietly asked after patting down her uniform, her pale cheeks still tinged with a touch of red. Milly smiled in return, winking to dissuade her worried expression.

"He'll be here soon, Rivalz just got them stuck in traffic. Don't worry about it." she replied, taking another bite of her sandwich and effectively ending the conversation as they all turned back to their meal, Shirley still blushing while looking at the ground, her mind somewhere else.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Lelouch hummed in agreement over the phone before ending the call with a press of a button and throwing it back in his bag, leaning back in the padded seat with a sigh. He looked back at the silent soldiers and their impromptu blockade of armoured vehicles just a few meters in front of them, cursing on the inside. What luck they had - first nearly getting flattened by what he assumed was a maniac Eleven high on Refrain, then having a dozen soldiers block the end of the highway in front of them just as they approached, screaming at them to stop.

Not even flashing their Ashford Academy student identifications had gotten them so much as a word of explanation, leaving them stuck where they were for the past half an hour, with countless other Britannians behind them sharing the same fate.

"What a mess." Rivalz whined, stretching his arms after jumping back on, sitting sideways on his driver's seat. Giving up on arguing with the stone faced soldiers with another disgusted look, he settled for complaining to Lelouch, "You think it's those terrorists again?"

He shrugged in return, "Who knows? That Knightmare doesn't belong to the Police Department, that much I'm sure of." he said, pointing at the large purple Sutherland that had taken a position behind the armoured personnel carriers a few minutes ago. Rivalz gazed up at the machine suspiciously.

"That's a… Sutherland, isn't it? I don't particularly care, as long as it doesn't start shooting at us."

Lelouch blinked in surprise as a large white van screamed around the corner a couple of streets away in front of them, tires squealing in protest. The soldiers turned around at the sudden noise, the Captain of the unit, as signified by the small red symbol on his shoulder, screaming at his squad to raise their weapons. Faced with the overwhelming firepower, it slowed down to a crawl, turning to the right and coming to a stop. The impressively detailed Britannian coat of arms on its side shone in the bright sunlight, making him raise an eyebrow.

Seeing the symbol, their commander shouted again, and the men slowly lowered their rifles down again, turning back around. A tall, lavender haired man wearing a white coat exited the vehicle and started yelling at the helmeted soldiers, seemingly uncaring that there was a Knightmare still aiming right at him.

The Sutherland turned around after confirming there was no threat, lowering its rifle with a whir of servos and low pitched hissing of pistons. The heavy Knightmare-sized gun it carried had resulted in a sharp drop in the number of shouted complaints from the jammed people, though the angry murmur of the crowd was still noticeable.

"Haven't seen one of those in a while." Rivalz murmured after losing interest in the new arrival, raising a hand to keep the sun out of his eyes as he stared up at the huge machine again, watching its factoid spheres slowly pulse as it scanned the area, "Doesn't it remind you of the one we have back at Ashford?"

"The Ganymede?" Lelouch yelled at him over the sound of a revving engine on their right as an impatient man got off his rather angry looking bike after going around the long column of vehicles to start arguing with the soldiers. Clearly, not everyone was intimidated by the large machine of the Elite of the Britannian Military, "I piloted it a few times. It's an old model, though, not as good as one of these things." he distractedly pointed up at the Sutherland.

"Excuse me?" a cheerful voice interjected into their small conversation, making Rivalz recoil back in shock as the man in the white coat they had seen before leaned towards him, dangerously close, "Did I hear you mention a _Ganymede_?" he asked in a singsong voice that made them both shiver, "Now how would two teenage students know about something like that?" he quietly asked, leaning in closer and making Rivalz's teeth chatter, "Hmm?"

"We're students at the Ashford Academy, sir." Lelouch started with a smile, jumping out of the sidecar and approaching the man, "It's a rather prestigious institution, I'm sure you've heard of it."

"Ashford?" the other man mumbled, rubbing his chin before his eyes widened and he clapped his hands with joy, "The Ashfords, of course. You _must_ mean the original model of the Ganymede they have, I've always wanted to take a look at it." He joyously informed them, making Lelouch smile twist uncomfortably as the man seemed to be far too excited at the prospect.

"I'm sure we could arrange something, sir. You see, the Headmaster of the Academy is an acquaintance of mine, and he would no doubt be glad to accommodate a member of the military." he stated, finally seeing a way to get out of their current predicament, "We would need your help getting back to the Academy, though. Could you have a talk with these men?"

The man opened his mouth to reply, then frowned, turning around as a shout resounded from behind him. A woman was running towards them from behind the barricade, clearly in a great deal of distress if her frantic screaming was anything to go by. He turned back, leaning in close and grabbing both boys by the shoulders with a conspiratory whisper, "Before that, tell me, how would you like to see a brand new prototype of the first _seventh_ generation Knightmare in the world?"

While Rivalz stuttered out a negative answer in shock, Lelouch was already busy thinking up a plan of retreat, writing off the man as insane - or worse, "I'm not sure that-"

"I'm so glad to hear that." The madman yelled, clapping his hands with satisfaction as he turned around to the approaching purple haired woman who was looking at him with a rather angry expression, "Cecile, my dear, tell that _fine_ Captain to let our new friends through. They're Ashford students, and in a great deal of hurry."

"Mr. Lloyd, we don't have time to-" she started, yelping in outrage as the man simply passed her by.

"Come on, quickly now. We don't have much time." he yelled at the two boys behind him, striding ahead without a care in the world.

Shaking his head, Rivalz leaned towards Lelouch, lowering his voice, "You think we should follow him?" the other teen paused before responding, rubbing his chin in thought. Turning around to have another look at the column of vehicles, he nodded.

"If we can get past the blockades, it won't take long for us to get back to the Academy. Unless you'd like to go back there?" he pointed a thumb back at the road.

Rivalz mirrored him in looking back at the jam packed road, "You don't have to tell me twice." he grumbled, jumping back into the seat and purring forward cautiously. The Knightmare didn't so much as stir in their direction, the soldiers stepping aside as their new acquaintance waved them away

"What a mess, what a mess." Lloyd loudly complained as he led the small group back to the large van they'd seen approach a few minutes ago, "First these terrorists steal _poison gas_ , then an entire train of _Knightmares_? Absolute disaster." the two teens looked at each other in shock, Rivalz mouthing,

"Poison gas?"

"Mr. Lloyd." the woman screamed at him, trying to catch up to his rapidly striding figure, "You can't just scream military secrets out loud." she yelled, before turning around to the two teens and blowing a pair of purple locks from her face with a huff, "Please, just bear with it for a while - the Ashford academy, was it?" she awkwardly smiled, watching them nod.

"Thank you very much, Miss… Cecile?" Lelouch politely responded, fishing for information, "If I may ask, what's this about a seventh generation Knightmare? He seemed quiet proud of it."

"How did you-" she looked back to Lloyd who had opened the back of the van with the push of a button and was impatiently twirling on the spot as he waited for the large doors to open, "I see. It's a classified Military secret, and I'm afraid you'll have to leave as soon as possible - it's not safe here."

"Cecile, dear." the other man screamed from the inside of the van, "Which one of these syringes was I supposed to inject her with?" With a muttered curse, the woman ran by them and into the van, getting into another shouting match with her clueless companion that left both teens standing outside awkwardly.

Rivalz turned around, eyeing the soldiers who now had their backs turned to them, busy guarding the street, before glancing at the black haired boy. Lelouch shook his head in answer to the unasked question, leaning against the sidecar as the man exited again, "Where was I?" he frowned, "Oh yes, the Ashford boys. I'm afraid you'll have to come visit later, we're in a bit of a hurry, or so I'm told."

Lloyd impatiently glanced back at the van, then turned back to the two boys with a smile. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it after looking at Lelouch again, carefully scrutinizing his face as he thought about something, "I didn't notice it before, but those features…" he murmured, looking at his face before glancing up at his eyes and frowning, "What did you say your name was?"

Lelouch's expression stayed the same, holding his smile while his insides froze in horror, the surprise slowly transitioning into fear before he clamped down on it, schooling his expression into confusion with some effort, "I didn't, sir. It's Lelouch, Lelouch Lamperouge." he said, his heart pounding in his chest.

The man looked up at the sky with narrowed eyes before slamming a fist into his other palm, "Oh, I remember now. You must be Marianne's boy." he shouted out loud triumphantly. Lelouch's calm expression cracked like an eggshell, shifting into something between horror and anger as he watched the laughing man, "That's how you know about the Ganymede. Magnificent."

He cautiously took a step back, prepared to jump into Rivalz's driver's seat and drive away - Knightmare and its rifle be damned - but the insane Knightmare enthusiast just continued laughing, patting him on his shoulder, "I won't tell anyone. Everyone has their own circumstances, hmm?" he gave him an exaggerated wink that left Rivalz glancing between the two men in confusion. Rummaging around the pocket of his coat, he triumphantly pulled out a small white business card, placing it in Lelouch's limp hand and patting it, "Please, call me when you have some free time. Any true patron of the arts would jump at the chance to see my dear _Lancelot_."

Lelouch gazed down, his eyes widening even further as he read the man's title, "You're an… _Earl_?" he whispered, looking up at the grinning man and seeing him in an entirely different light. He had expected the man to have some influence, to be able to move to so freely in a restricted zone, but seeing an Earl in the field? It was no wonder the soldiers had fallen in line so quickly.

Lloyd waved him away, "Please, please. We're in a hurry right now, but I'll be expecting your call." he winked again, giving him another pat on the shoulder before pushing a button to close the door to the van, "Farewell, Mister Lamperouge." he yelled as it closed shut with a groan, leaving him standing outside with a shell-shocked look on his face.

Rivalz looked at Lelouch, scratching his head in confusion, "You alright, buddy? You're looking a bit pale."

The other boy struggled to keep his shaking hands under control, gripping the bottom of his jacket so hard he was surprised it didn't rip apart. After a few tries, he managed to bring himself into a semblance of normality, smiling up at the blue haired boy who was now looking at him with clear concern, "Just surprised. It's not every day you get a business card from a noble."

With a mighty roar and another squeal of tires, the van sped off into the distance away from the stunned teens. Rivalz looked at his companion and back repeatedly in surprise, "That guy sounded like he knew who you were." he continued, scratching his head in confusion, "I don't get it, isn't he an Earl? Why would he know you? And what was that about someone called _Marianne_?"

Getting his emotions under control was difficult, but he managed to do it after a few seconds. It was clear the man had known - or known _of_ \- his mother, which, coupled with his title of an Earl meant he was dealing with a Noble who had a very real chance of turning him in. Clutching the white business card in his hand, his violet eyes flew over the small text once again: _Earl Lloyd Asplund_ , it said in rather fancy writing, followed by _Director of The Camelot, Advanced Special Envoy, Engineering Corps_ and after that, an even smaller printed phone number.

He flipped it over in his hand a few times, thinking about something before looking back at Rivalz and shrugging indifferently, "Must have mixed me up with someone else, Rivalz. No idea what he was talking about." he walked back and jumped into the sidecar, waving at the blue haired boy to move, "Come on, if we circle around a bit, we'll be able to get to Ashford in ten or so minutes now that we're through."

Rivalz mirrored his shrug as he jumped back into the driver's seat, his rather simple mind already resolving the situation by itself, "I'm sure it'll be fine if you say so." he murmured as he revved the engine and turned around to get directions from one of the soldiers on the fastest way back to Ashford.

The raven haired boy quietly sat beside him, flipping the small card in his and staring at the number in deep thought.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Lelouch stumbled through the door, barely remembering to slam a button to close it behind him before he slid down the wall next to the entrance, head held between his knees as he let out ragged breaths in the quiet room. Now that he had some privacy, his mind was let loose in a cacophony of dozens of different thoughts and opinions that warred for supremacy, screaming at each other to be heard above the rest.

He forcibly calmed himself down by raising his head and slapping his cheeks, instantly feeling refreshed as the pain flashed across his mind, cutting through the intertwined half-formed arguments and suggestions like a harken slash through flesh. Standing up, he went to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face before gripping the sink and staring at his reflection in the mirror for a long moment, gauging his options.

The Earl hadn't seemed too surprised upon recognizing him - but that was far from the biggest problem their meeting had given him. To think he could be so _easily_ recognized by his features alone, what foolishness. He splashed his face again, uncaring of the water that dripped down onto his expensive, well fitting uniform. With an unheard roar of triumph, a thought separated from the bundle in his mind and he latched onto it, twisting and turning it around before nodding with satisfaction.

Could he turn this situation to his advantage? And if so, how far could he take it?

What he needed was time to think. It didn't seem like they were in any immediate danger, and a plan was already forming in his head about how he could best take advantage of this situation and turn it into something that could benefit them all. Taking a towel and wiping his face dry, he frowned at the ruined state of the upper part of his uniform, "Best get a fresh one, I think." he murmured into his chin as he exited, pausing when the door hissed open.

His worried expression lightened as a concerned looking Milly cautiously stepped inside, looking left and right before noticing him and giving him a wide smile that made his heart soar, washing away all of his concerns and doubts with its sheer intensity. She quickly strode over and gave him a tight hug, heedless of the wet cloth of his shirt pressed against her cheek, "I was so worried. Rivalz, that bumbling idiot, came to tell me you two went through a war zone, and then they were saying something about a terrorist attack on television, and then-" she was rambling, clearly concerned. It just made him like her even more.

He cut her off by giving the worried girl a light kiss that made her blue eyes widen in pure shock. Leaning back after a few seconds, he hugged her again, "It's good to see you again, Milly." he whispered into her hair, politely ignoring the suspicious sounding sniff she gave in response.

"You only did that to calm me down, didn't you?" she whispered back. They stood in comfortable silence for a good while before he leaned away. Letting go of her hands, he took a seat on the sofa they'd spent their last evening on, leaning his chin on steepled fingers in a classical thinking pose that made her feel just a tiny bit better.

"Still, you arrived faster than I thought you would." she quietly mentioned, moving across the room and taking a seat on the wooden arm of the sofa next to him, gently massaging his shoulders. He stifled a groan as the tight pressure, high on his back, caused by stress during the day was slowly chipped away at.

"We met… someone. They recognized our uniforms and let us through."

Milly raised an unseen eyebrow at his vague response, poking his neck sharply and making him hiss, " _Someone_?" she asked suspiciously. He let out a deep sigh in return, moving away from her gentle ministrations and leaning forward, placing his hands in his lap.

"I need to speak to your grandfather first. Could you arrange a meeting for me?" he said instead of answering her question, looking at the ground.

"Lelouch, you know you don't have to do that. You two are practically family." she chided him, plopping down next to him and leaning her head against his shoulder. She looked down a few seconds later and gasped, "Your hands are shaking." she whispered, gently taking one of them in her own and intertwining their fingers. Her big blue eyes stared up right at him, and he saw nothing other than love and concern in that gaze, "Is it serious?" she quietly asked, knowing that if he was being evasive with her, there was likely a very good reason for it.

He clutched her hand in return and paused for a short while, bringing the other arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer while enjoying her presence, "I think I might have found a way to get closer to our goal."

"You mean…" she trailed off, leaning away from him and looking up at his calm face with a sudden blaze of hope shining in her eyes. He looked back, shaking his head.

"Not yet. I want to consult with him before I do anything else. Can you do it for me?"

"Of course." she squealed, giving him a tight hug that made him chuckle, taking a deep breath of relief now that he had a general plan in mind. A few seconds passed, and just as he started feeling like he had forgotten something very important, she leaned away and stood up, dusting down her skirt before looking down at him with a raised eyebrow, clearly impatient, "Aren't you forgetting something?" she mirrored his thoughts.

"Hmm?"

He looked up, his head draped over the back of the sofa like a slob. She took his hand and started dragging him up with a groan of effort that made him chuckle, his mood slowly improving at her distraction, "Class, Lelouch. You have to go to class, come on." she started, pushing him out of the door,

"My uniform-" he tried to interrupt her, only to have her push even harder.

"No time, just get going. Nunnally will get angry if you miss all of your classes, even if it's because of a terrorist attack."

He gave up, picking up his bag from where he had dropped it by the door and hoisting it on his shoulder, "Wouldn't want that." he muttered, closing the door behind them and walking away down the hallway without further protest. Milly grinned, quickly catching up to him and intertwining their hands as they made their way out of the dormitories and into the warmth of the approaching noon. She squeezed his hand tighter as an odd sensation ran down her spine, feeling like their quiet days together might be about to get a lot more busy.

0o0o0o0o0o0

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A/N: Welcome back to FWtBT, I hope you enjoyed reading.

Rest assured that any inconsistencies with cannon you might have noticed were written on purpose, and will slowly be explained throughout the story. I hope you will enjoy the plot as it develops, I'm not sure if anyone's ever tried something like this, and I'm excited to try it out.

I've been terribly sick this entire week, so the next update for All Hail Britannia will be slightly delayed. I didn't want to keep you waiting too long for this chapter, which is why it was published instead of AHB.

Please leave a review and I'll see you next time.

Thanks to ~AverageLucas for proofreading this chapter.

* * *

08/01/2017: Rewrote some parts of the chapter thanks to the advice of my reviewers. Thank you very much.


	3. Chapter 3

~0o0o0~

* * *

Distant voices reached her, sneaking in and out of her ears as if she was being carried by waves of a gigantic ocean, sinking down to the very bottom before coming back up time and time again. How odd. She had never even seen the ocean before, much less swam in it.

"Sir, I must protest. You can't possibly expect us to let you simply-"

"...already furious that he lost so many Knightmares to-"

"...magnificent, isn't it? In such an old machine, too. I could hardly believe it when..."

Kallen Kōzuki groaned as she came to. She felt like she had been run over by a lorry - repeatedly. The noises were interrupted by a ringing noise in her ears that made her frown, groaning once more as the small gesture brought a fresh wave of pain over her face.

A cool, wet object was gently pressed to her forehead shortly after. She gave a half-hearted moan of relief as the pain was numbed, feeling herself sink deeper into the soft surface she was lying on. More bits and pieces of a conversation reached her as she did her best to remember where she was.

"Margrave Jeremiah-"

"...directly to Prime Minister _Schneizel_ , if you feel that-"

"Prince Clovis will hear of this." She heard a woman cry out angrily a few seconds - or was it minutes? Hours? - Later, before all outside noise ceased, leaving her once again in blessed silence. Something nibbled at the edge of her consciousness as she rested. Clovis? What an odd sounding name, yet it sounded so familiar.

With a small gasp that did no wonders for her sore throat, she managed to force her eyelids open. Hissing at the sudden onslaught of light on her abused eyes, she squeezed them shut again. Reveling in the cool feeling on her forehead that somehow managed to draw attention from the dull pain she felt, her other senses became even more sensitive as she was deprived of sight.

A pair of boots echoed across the floor towards her. Her heart thudding, she did her best to appear unconscious in hopes her captors would reveal something she could use against them later, if she managed to escape. Highly unlikely, the redhead knew. It wasn't the first time one of their group had been captured by the Britannians. When they did, they never came back.

"Such unpleasant business. And how is our new test subject?"

The happy tone of the voice nearly made her jump, even though she was still feeling like she was under a pair or ten of heavy blankets. Cautiously, slowly, she tried to raise her right hand ever so slightly to test her range of movement. A smooth surface clasped over her wrist held it down, and she gave up after a few seconds of trying, bemoaning the existence of her newly discovered restraints.

"Much better than when we found her, Mr. Lloyd. With some luck, she might be able to make a full recovery." Came the calm, high pitched reply of a woman. A different one. At the very least, this one wasn't screaming about Prince Clovis. "I would like to keep her unconscious for the time being, if we _must_ keep her here at all."

"Hmm? Should we ask for her opinion, then?" The man replied, "It should have worn off by now, though she might be numb for a while. Aren't you glad for that, Miss Kallen _Stadfeld_?" The last part of his sentence was noticeably louder, clearly aimed at her. Giving up on the pretense of sleeping, she opened her mouth to reply but only a small croaking noise came out before she launched into a coughing fit.

Quickly, a glass was pressed against her lips as she calmed down, the redhead gleefully savoured the lukewarm water that poured down her tongue, invigorating her dry, abused throat, "Kōzuki. Not Stadfeld." She whispered, blinking the tears out of her eyes and taking in her surroundings.

She was lying on a bed, her right side against a wall. A purple haired woman sat next to her, her expression a mix between seriousness and slight worry as she pulled the glass away, placing it on a small table before gently taking off the now lukewarm rag from her forehead and walking off towards a small sink on the other side of the room.

The man who talked to her was tall, with messy lavender hair and a pair of wide spectacles. He grinned at her confused expression, clearly enjoying her discomfort, "Is that your _rebel_ nickname? So exotic."

He sat down at the edge of the bed, making her glance down at herself for the first time since she came to. Barely able to feel anything aside from her hands below her neck, she was covered with a heavy white blanket that smelled vaguely of sharp disinfectants, much like everything else in the room. Try as she might, to her embarrassment, she was unable to tell if she was clothed or not below it. Ignoring her questioning look, the man went on.

"I'd say you were very lucky to survive, Miss Stadfeld, but I am not a man who believes in luck." He waved a pen around after jotting something down on a small note block in his lap. "Your _Glasgow_ ," and he paused at the name, sounding giddy at the very thought, "managed to stand up to and destroy over half a dozen Sutherlands. Tell me, how?"

Indignation rose up within her, but she managed to bite back her retort about where he could shove his Sutherlands and Glasgows. She was captured, and quite obviously in enemy territory; Ohgi wouldn't want her to screw this up. Perhaps she could play off of her sick schoolgirl image to garner some sympathy? If nothing else, her blue eyes flickered left to a small package on the table; that woman had a lot of _very_ sharp needles to provide motivation.

The redhead nervously wet her lips, doing her best to appear calm, "Just got lucky, I guess." She modestly replied, trying to quell her rapidly beating heart as if the very sound would betray her. Glancing at something behind her, he frowned, "Your heart rate is too high for the medication you're under. Is there something wrong?"

"I-I…"

"The pain medication must be wearing off." The woman interjected, sitting back down and replacing the cool rag on her forehead. Kallen couldn't stop a small sigh of relief from coming out, closing her eyes for a moment and missing the man's confused look. He blinked, "But I've barely started, Cecile. Do we have anything stronger?"

"You've killed a lot of good men today, Miss Stadfeld." The woman quietly said, skillfully ignoring the man and making the redhead angrily focus on her through the pounding headache that dominated the front of her skull. The worry she had glimpsed before was gone, replaced with something approaching sadness.

"Not good men." She croaked out, heaving another cough that brought more pain to her chest, "Murderers. Invaders."

"I won't pretend to understand your reasoning for what you do… Kallen. But those men had families of their own. Wives, children that will be worried about why their father won't be coming home tonight." A quiet beeping filled the silence left by the heavy words. For the first time, she glanced down and noticed a trail of tubes and wires leading from her bedside to a device by her bed. Fear flashed through her, who knew what they could be pumping through her veins right now?

"Britannian bastards, you did this to me." She said in a hoarse whisper, making the woman - Cecile? - lean back and shake her head with disappointment, "Why keep me alive? I'll never talk."

"Well you see, young lady." Lloyd began, pushing the pair of glasses up as his voice rose in excitement, "The way you managed to make such an outdated machine move and compete with so many Sutherlands piloted by some of the very best pilots in this Area..." He trailed off, a wide grin splitting his face. "It has piqued my interest."

"And not only his." Said the other woman, "You came very close to killing the leader of the Purist faction today." She crossed her arms and glanced at Lloyd who merely shrugged in return without saying anything, "He was furious. By all accounts, Mister Lloyd here has saved you from a swift summary execution."

The lavender haired man spoke up, "Quite so. Luckily, the powers that be give me authority even, over our dear Prince Clovis." Seeing her shocked look, he gave her a patient smile. "We do serious work here, Miss Rebel. Work that I think _you_ will help me with."

"Lloyd." The seated woman cried out in shock.

He cocked his head, not looking away from the lying girl. She glared right back for a moment before audibly spitting at the floor next to her bedside and effectively ending the argument by showing what she thought about helping them. Cecile leaned away in disgust, while Lloyd only grinned.

"Perhaps we'll take away your pain medication, hmm? See how tough you are while handling third-degree burns?"

Her breath caught in her throat before she could spit out a retort. Already, the numbness was wearing off of her lower body, leaving an unpleasant prickling sensation that only seemed to be getting stronger with every passing minute. They couldn't possibly be telling the truth. Or could they?

The last thing she remembered was desperately dodging a hail of high caliber shells while exchanging fire with a Sutherland before crashing through a train car on the tracks. She distinctly remembered the roar of flames as its cockpit blew out, but not before it nicked her own cockpit with a glancing shot. After that, her memory got a bit fuzzy.

She glanced down at her covered body for a mere moment, thinking about her current predicament before looking back up and grinning, "Do your worst, _Britannian_." She spat out the last word in the local language, just like her brother had taught her.

The other man sighed, shaking his head in resignation. "This is why I prefer to work with machines, Miss Rebel. They are so much easier to interact with. Still, I am not a violent man. We'll see if your opinion changes when you've had some rest, hmm?" He hummed, then gave her a beaming smile that left her leaning her head away from him in slight disgust.

Uncaring of her mood, he stood up and walked over next to her bed, her blue eyes tracking him warily while she kept up her defiant mask. Taking out another filled syringe from a small package on the table, he proceeded to inject it into a tube hanging off of the beeping device, "I'll give you some time to think. It's not like you're going anywhere." He murmured with yet another wink.

She suddenly felt tired, more tired than after a hard day of training in the solitary Knightmare their small group possessed, or even that one time, so many years ago, when she ran over ten kilometres to prove to her brother she didn't need a bicycle to keep up with him and his friends. Her eyelids feeling heavy, she blinked a few more times before leaning further back into her raised pillows and closing them.

As she drifted back into unconsciousness, she heard the man speak out again, "Oh my." He sounded surprised, "Was that the right syringe?"

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Close the door, would you? I don't feel like dying from the cold just yet."

Lelouch smiled in agreement, closing the door behind him with a soft click that echoed through the silent room. The office of the Headmaster of Ashford Academy, one Ruben Ashford was a large, comfortable place. The rays of the setting sun burst through the large windows on his left, illuminating the room in fiery detail. Night was fast approaching.

Ruben himself was leaning out of an open window, glancing over his shoulder at the young man. A tall, wiry man, he still seemed strong for his age. He wore a dark suit, adorned with a light blue tie that perfectly matched the colour of his eyes, peeking at his visitor from below his bushy eyebrows.

The top of his head held a mane of grey, carefully combed back hair with nary a hair out of place - a trend shared by the short beard and mustache that moved around as he gave Lelouch a small nod before sliding the window closed with the press of a button on a small, wall mounted panel and turning around.

"Have a seat. How were your classes?"

Lelouch sat down on one of the two leather sofas surrounding a low glass table in the middle of the office, folding his hands in his lap. "Quite well, thank you for asking. Mrs. Griffin wasn't pleased with my tardiness, however."

The senior Ashford sat on the sofa at the other side of the low table and leaned back into the cushions with a satisfied sigh, crossing his legs before responding, "Is that so? Another one of your excursions?" Lelouch merely shrugged, knowing the older man already knew all the details.

Ruben took out a large cigarette-case from an inside pocket and pulled out a stick that he proceeded to light before taking a deep drag. He eyed Lelouch with unnerving concentration as he let out a cloud of smoke, narrowing his eyebrows. "This is related to the message my granddaughter sent me." He continued.

It wasn't a question, but Lelouch nodded in agreement nonetheless, hiding the slight nervousness behind a practiced mask of neutral politeness. The older man practically exuded an aura of confidence and authority that would he would be hard pressed to match. Unlike the lower ranks of Nobles he faced on a semi-regular basis, he found Ruben quite hard to deal with for many reasons, not the least of which was the fact that he was engaged to the man's granddaughter.

Contrary to the stern image, the man absolutely adored the girl he was grooming to be the successor to his small Empire - or what was left of it after Marianne's death, in any case. Knowing Milly as well as he did, Lelouch had silently agreed with the decision ever since he had heard of it. A worthy successor indeed.

"Quite so, sir. In my defense, there was a military operation in the area. As well as… other reasons."

"If you were any other student, I would have no choice but to discipline you nonetheless." The man remarked, tapping off the ash in a small ashtray with practiced ease and letting the silence stretch out for a few seconds to drive his point home. "She asked me not to interrogate you, but knowing you, you were the one who made her schedule this small meeting of ours. Come on, out with it."

"As always, you see right through me, sir. The truth is, on my way back from my engagements, I had the pleasure of meeting an Earl."

"Hardly uncommon, from what I've heard from a few of my acquaintances."

Ruben's beard crinkled around a small, self-deprecating smile as they were both reminded of the low position the name of Ashford held in the social hierarchy of the nobility. No doubt he had but a few precious friends left amongst their ranks, a man's value was judged by who he knew and who knew _him_ in turn - associating with the Ashfords would be at best frowned upon, and at worst, ridiculed.

Time to dispense with the pleasantries and get straight to the point of his visit, Lelouch thought as he leaned forward conspiratorially. "Not a Director of a Special Envoy in the Britannian Engineering Corps and the creator of the first Seventh Generation Knightmare in the world, though."

That certainly got the other man's attention. He mirrored Lelouch's pose as he leaned forward and scrunched the half-burnt cigarette into the ashtray before giving the young man his full attention. "Tell me everything." He quietly said, his eyes blazing with excitement.

Lelouch allowed a small grin to cover his features before he smoothed it over and began his explanation. By the time he finished, the sun had already set and the office was bathed in a dull yellow glow of antique lamps. The large windows were now covered by long white drapes that had gently extended from the ceiling above the glass as the sky darkened, covering the twinkling landscape of the Britannian Settlement from view.

The Patriarch of the Ashford family stood up as Lelouch finished, walking towards the large wooden desk that dominated the far side of the room and running a hand across a few photographs on its surface. He cracked a small, nostalgic smile before turning around and giving Lelouch an odd look. "You don't seem too worried that he recognized you."

"I've done some research, sir, the man is a fanatic, I truly doubt he cares at all. If anything," He spread his hands indicate his lack of worry, "he is more likely to keep it to himself _because_ of who I am."

"I'm willing to entertain his… eccentricities, of course." The older man replied, "But you said you plan on accepting his invitation, which means going to the Governor's Palace." He gave him a long look, clearly expecting a retort. The boy stayed silent, silently mulling over something, so he continued, "It's dangerous, Lelouch."

"It would be, unless I was already planning on meeting the Governor himself."

"You…" Ruben gripped the edge of the desk, his mustache angrily moving from side to side. "I expected you to do something like this, but not so soon. Not while you're still so young." A pause stretched between them, his blue eyes clashing with Lelouch's confident violet pair. "Are you sure the time is right?"

"Nothing so dramatic, I assure you. I've already talked to Milly, and she has given me full support over my decision." He relaxed ever so slightly as the other man nodded, motioning for him to continue. "I believe I can convince my half-brother of my usefulness, and the benefits he will reap from my help. As for the Earl and his _Lancelot_ …"

Lelouch stood up and walked over to a large shelf that held the man's book collection, as well as various other knick knacks and photo-frames. He trailed a finger over a few awards from the Britannian Military for technical innovation and service to the country, smiling at a photograph of a young Milly Ashford in her grandfather's lap, cheerfully waving at the camera.

"Once they begin working out a mass-produced model, _someone_ is going to need to help them. Someone with a history of innovation and excellence in the field." A smile stretched further across his lips. "And with the Viceroy at my side, it would be a trivial matter to encourage him to pick someone of my choosing."

"The arrogance of youth, so confident everything will go as you plan." Ruben remarked with a nostalgic twinkle in his eye before shaking his head, clearly not completely convinced. "And if Prince Clovis locks you up and delivers you to your father as a gift instead? What will I do then?"

Lelouch had expected him to balk at the very notion of what he was planning to do, but it seemed like he still had a chance to get the man's approval. Unexpected, but it certainly made his life easier. He frowned, going back to the sofa and dropping down with a thud. "Rest assured I am fully aware of my slight hubris. In this case, however, Milly and I are in full agreement."

He paused, folding his hands again and looking at the table. "With all these terrorist attacks recently, Clovis will be under pressure from Pendragon to do something. I think it's one of the reasons that prototype is here, leaving it with Cornelia on the frontlines would get them data faster, but it would also be liable to get heavily damaged or destroyed more easily."

"In addition…" He trailed off this time, gazing at Ruben with a determined look in his eyes. "If I wait any longer, they'll entrench their position here and eradicate any local resistance, solidifying their rule over the entire Area. I can _feel_ that the time is ripe for things to be shaken up in Area Eleven."

Ruben sighed, then walked around the table and took a seat in the high-backed armchair. The inbuilt sensors soundlessly moved a part of the tabletop aside, a large white keyboard rising from the leftover space until it settled flat on the surface, a large monitor automatically turning itself on at the man's glance. "I can hardly go against my granddaughter if she supports you, now, can I?" He murmured, skilfully tapping on the keys while muttering something under his breath. "You have the rest of the week off, use it as you see fit. If you need anything else, you know where to find me."

"Thank you, sir. I'll be on my way, then, it was a long day." Lelouch stood up, biting back his surprise at how easily the man has given up on resistance. He gave a slight bow of his head in a gesture of respect to the old man before turning around to walk out. Ruben called his name before he could open the door, making him quirk an eyebrow in a silent question.

"One more thing I forgot to ask. Are you certain this Earl will have time for you? I imagine the Military is rather preoccupied, what with all that talk of terrorists stealing poison gas today."

Lelouch smiled wider, enjoying the feeling of being one step ahead of him already. "But of course. I've already called him and scheduled my visit to the facilities in advance of our talk. I'll be going to the Governor's Palace early tomorrow."

Ruben narrowed his eyebrows while listening before leaning back and letting out a full-blown laugh, clearly amused by the youngster's impertinence. He finally stopped, coughing while waving him out, "As insolent as your mother, you are. Get going."

Lelouch quietly closed the door behind him and looked to the right, unsurprised to find Milly barely a few meters away, leaning against the wall next to one of the many windows in the corridor. She smiled at him, clearly already knowing the answer. "Is everything alright?"

"Quite alright, yes. So far, everything is going just as planned." He said after looking up and down the corridor to make sure there was no one within earshot. "I would have prefered it if you were with the student council, though. People will _talk_ if we're both absent."

"Oh, let them talk." She murmured, leaning away from the wall to walk over and begin fixing his collar which he tolerated with practiced stoicism, well aware it was already in perfect condition. One could hardly expect the Headmaster of a private Academy to take them seriously if they were looking like a slob.

"Milly…" He began in a slightly exasperated tone, giving her a look that made her frown as she finished adjusting his collar in a very slightly different position before looking up at him with narrowed eyes.

"Those girls will gossip about anything, and you know it." Milly gave him a mock huff before stealthily slipping her hand into his and giving him a small tug to start moving. Lelouch felt a small twinge of amusement at her behaviour as she continued talking, easily catching up to her long strides with his longer legs.

"Everyone knows we're engaged, Lelouch, but even your _sister_ has started teasing me. Just today, after you ended your call. Even Shirley and _Nina_ , of all people, looked like they were going to join in." She let out a sigh. "It's partially your fault, you know?"

"I'm not quite sure how, so you'll have to do without an apology. But Nunnally? Teasing you?" He frowned. "That doesn't sound like my dear little sister at all. Perhaps Shirley encouraged her, spurred on by her jealousy?"

Milly gently slipped her smaller hand out of his and moved away to a more reasonable distance as a small gaggle of students came into view from a different corridor in the large branch of paths ahead. She waved to the girls with a small grin, receiving a wave in return before they bypassed them and went around a corner down a different path. Without breaking stride, she linked their hands yet again and slipped closer until their shoulders were practically touching.

"It looked spontaneous to me." She shrugged, clearly not thinking much about the small event, yet still feeling the need to keep him up to date on his sister's behaviour. "Although I _am_ glad she's growing more independent, even if it comes at my expense."

He hummed in agreement, blinking as she leaned up to give him a peck on the cheek before letting go of his hand and moving away again. "I'm glad everything went well back there." She explained, making him shake his head at her antics even though he internally approved.

They exited through the large entrance hall and made their way down the marble steps that preceded the entrance to Ashford Academy proper. He took a deep breath of the warm evening air. Groups of students littered the stairs and the grounds ahead. The classes had ended for the day, and most of them seemed to have decided the weather was far too nice to spend it cooped up inside their dormitories.

"There's something I've forgotten to ask you, Milly." He mentioned as they made their way down a path to a separate group of buildings next to the main school building. She looked up at him with an innocent expression with hands folded behind her back, already knowing what his question was going to be. "Where are we going?" Lelouch continued, undeterred.

"To the student council offices, of course."

"I have work to do tomorrow, Milly. You can't handle it without me for one day?" He asked with a frown. She looked up at the small number of twinkling stars above. This close to the Settlement, the light pollution made it hard to see any of the celestial bodies, but it nearly made up for it with the spectacular lightshow it emitted every night.

"You haven't been spending time with the rest of us for a while. Nunnally will be disappointed." Milly casually remarked, pausing to greet an acquaintance from another small group of students sitting on a bench at the side of their path. "And so will I." She quietly added as they moved away. Lelouch looked at his wristwatch before saying anything else.

"One hour."

"Two?"

He paused at the doorway to the student council building, one hand on the doorknob, "Will Rivalz be there?"

"You're _still_ angry with him?" Milly asked disbelievingly. After what he had told her the two of them have gone through today, she had naturally assumed Lelouch had forgiven him. Male relationships always seemed odd to her, though he would no doubt say the same -if not worse - about the twisted relationships women cultivated amongst themselves. He gave her a long stare, expression neutral.

"If you make dinner tomorrow, I won't be."

She blushed at his forwardness, stifling a small giggle by slapping a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. As a confident, unshakeable girl with an outgoing personality, she still had the awful tendency to turn into mush at anything even remotely romantic he said. She grinned and offered him a hand which he shook, solidifying their agreement.

"It's a deal."

0o0o0o0o0o0

Villetta Nu barely spared a glance at the pair of guards in front of the reinforced doors outside of the War Room as they saluted her, storming past them and into the very center of hustle and bustle of activity that permeated the Governor's Palace. The large raised podium holding a projection that currently showed the Settlement itself was the proverbial eye of the storm in the room. Aides ran to a from other aides that operated the rows of computers on both sides of the room, providing a constant stream of reports to the men that stood around the center.

Quickly noticing Jeremiah amongst them by his distinct hair colour, she started pushing her way toward. He was bowed low over the projection when she found him, gesturing with his hand towards a distinctly nervous looking General Bartley who kept nodding in return, before responding to something she couldn't hear over the din in the room.

She stood at attention before trying to speak to him, mindful of how busy they looked. "Margrave Gottwald, I have returned."

He turned around, narrowing his good eye towards her. A clear white bandage was wrapped around his head and covered his other, left eye, courtesy of an unlucky piece of shrapnel from a blast that penetrated his cockpit. It was also the reason she was sent away, instead of being by his side during the meeting.

"Villetta." He greeted her after moving away from the rim of the podium and the other officers. He opened his mouth again to say something, then frowned. "I was wondering where you were. Did Kewell need you for something?"

She cracked a humourless smile. The pain medications he was on must have been fierce indeed, for him to have forgotten that he was the one who sent her away with specific orders. That he had still insisted on working instead of resting and recuperating from his wounds spoke volumes about his character. It reaffirmed her loyalty to him as the leader of their faction.

"No, sir. You sent me to recover the pilot of that Glasgow that was giving us trouble today, and Kewell is still missing." She paused for a moment, wondering if asking him the following question was pushing her boundaries as a subordinate. "Do you remember, sir?"

His eyes flashed, but he brought a hand up and went to rub his forehead with a grimace before pausing in midair and waving away her slightly concerned look in a rare gesture of placation. "I'll be fine, it's just the drugs." He continued after a few seconds, feeling significantly more focused after he had a chance to recuperate his thoughts. "Is he still alive? Where did you place him?"

"There's been a problem, sir." She leaned in a bit closer, lowering her voice to keep the murmuring men from hearing them. "The _Camelot_ Research Division exercised their authority to confiscate the cockpit minutes after the infantry secured the surrounding area. I've argued with that… _man_." She spat out the word like it was particularly unpleasant to her. "But all I managed to glean was that they had their eyes on the pilot from the moment he appeared. Possibly for research of some sort, though I struggle to imagine what good a filthy _Eleven_ would…"

He nodded, lips thinning in displeasure as she realized what she had just implied and bowed her head in apology. A filthy Eleven, yet he had managed to outskill eight Purists - including himself - in an outdated machine that still seemed to dance around everything they threw at it with inhuman reactions. It mocked everything they had worked for, and everything they stood against. At least six of his comrades would never again see another day, with one still missing, likely captured by the very same terrorists they were fighting against. It made his blood boil.

"I… see." He said through gritted teeth. "Anything else?"

"He reiterated that he, and The Camelot itself at large, were operating under Prince Schneizel's authority. Unless you want us to break into their facilities and seize him by force, our hands are tied."

Jeremiah looked at the officers around the table, then back at the woman, reminding himself that if Prince Schneizel wanted something done, it _would_ be done, and there wasn't an accursed thing anyone save the Emperor himself could do about it. "I'll speak to Prince Clovis when I have the chance. This slight to our honour cannot be allowed to stand."

Villeta bowed her head, shoulders shaking ever so slightly as she closed her eyes. "I've failed you, sir. Please, if there's any way I could repent myself, just say it and it shall be done."

A hush fell across the room, the sound of dozens of military issued boots clicking together quickly blowing away any thoughts that she may have caused it. Prince Clovis let the door close shut behind him, then impatiently waved the men off. "I'm sure you all have something you should be doing right now." He shouted, striding towards the center of the room.

The lower ranks slowly began working again as he left them behind, still throwing awed glances every now and then at a Prince of the Empire personally being involved in Military matters of the Area. For a known playboy and a laid back ruler, Prince Clovis looked uncharacteristically serious as he strode towards them.

"Bartley, Gentlemen." He gave a small nod in acknowledgement, then leaned against the side of the projector Jeremiah was previously occupying and spread his hands on the table. "I don't have much time, but I was advised," His eyes flashed to Bartley for a brief second, clearly showing just how much he thought such matters were beneath him. "to receive a full briefing on what exactly happened in my city today."

Jeremiah leaned in and whispered, "I'll inform his Highness later. Wait over there." He waved his hand in a gesture that encompassed the back of the room along with the doorway before turning around and smoothly sliding in next to Bartley, giving Prince Clovis a respectful bow of his head like any self-respecting Purist would.

"Your Highness. If you'll allow me?"

Clovis blinked at his bandaged face, unaccustomed to seeing battlefield wounds displayed so openly, but, to his credit, simply gave his permission after seeing the Purist markings on his sleeves. "Make it brief. A good host should never be absent for too long from his party."

Jeremiah gave Bartley a small glare with his one remaining eye that left the General sweating, then slid his hands over the top of the projection to zoom out until it encompassed all of the settlement. "After breaking into the facility and stealing the container, the first sighting we have of the vehicle was here." He tapped on a freeway to illustrate, then made the rest of his report about the chase short enough that Prince had no trouble following.

"The vehicle went underground somewhere around here, below Shinjuku Ghetto. As per General Bartley's instructions, squads of _Honorary_ Britannians," He spat out the vile word, the men around the table paying it no heed, well aware of his faction's stance on that particular part of the Military, "were deployed to scour the underground, but failed to produce any results."

"Are you saying this vehicle simply disappeared?"

Jeremiah averted his eyes for a moment, blinking hard for a second to clear his drug addled mind enough to remember to make a point. "Unless the Elevens were lying to protect their own kind, that is the conclusion we're forced to draw. Furthermore, this _does_ prove yet again that the majority of Eleven soldiers are incompetent and beyond saving. Perhaps his Highness would consider-"

"I'd thank you to leave the politics to me… Margrave." Clovis cut him off, eyes sliding across the symbols signifying his rank with slight contempt. Jeremiah bowed his head in apology without saying anything, gritting his teeth as the Prince mercilessly continued flaying him alive. "I've also had the unpleasantness of reading a report on my way here saying we've lost multiple Knightmares today, against a single inferior model. How does your incompetent Elevens theory explain this?"

As the rest of the Generals quietly looked on, General Bartley cut in to prevent any further damage, "Your Highness, the loss of a few Knightmares means nothing to us. The biggest problem that plagues us is that while the Elevens that escorted the vehicle were retreating from our Knightmares, they happened upon a train of new Sutherlands that were scheduled to arrive at the Palace today." He continued, taking out a white handkerchief and wiping his sweat as the Prince looked up in anger.

"How many?"

"I have the shipping manifest right here, your Highness." Bartley continued, tapping on a small data pad at his side. "Fifty Knightmares divided amongst two train cars, as well as an accompanying shipment of power packs and maintenance equipment."

"By Darwin, that's enough to outfit an entire Knightmare Battalion." Clovis shouted, making heads around the room turn towards them. "This is an outrage. Who is responsible for this?"

"P-please, your Highness, not all of them have been taken. Twenty two are unaccounted for, and the supply car was barely touched, with only some power packs missing. We have Margrave Jeremiah here to thank for that, without his timely intervention, the situation could have deteriorated into something far worse."

What the good General neglected to tell the Prince was that Jeremiah had lost seven Sutherlands outfitted with advanced rifles and support equipment to a single Glasgow model that ferociously defended the terrorists while they outfitted themselves. It was only after a glancing shot from Jeremiah had managed to blow out the left part of its cockpit, thus activating its emergency evacuation protocol, that they had been forced to give up and retreat underground while cutting down the pursuing infantry with a wall of bullets.

Prince Clovis stared motionlessly at the table as Bartley finished his explanation, then looked up at the ceiling as if he was imploring Saint Darwin himself for help yet again. "And you don't even know where they are right now?"

He brought up a gloved hand to rub his forehead, clearly dreading the call he'd be giving to Schneizel tomorrow. "Twenty two Knightmares stolen, Code R subject taken," General Bartley took in a sharp breath of surprise, making Jeremiah glance at him sharply, mentally filing away the name, "and so many Britannian lives lost with nothing to show for it."

Jeremiah spoke up, seeing a perfect opportunity to push his agenda. "Perhaps his Highness would see fit to level the entire ghetto to send a message to these terrorist groups that collaboration and rebellion will not be tolerated? It would surely keep the Elevens from providing them shelter."

Several other Generals around the table nodded, murmuring their agreement. Clovis appeared to seriously consider the idea for a good half a minute before shaking his head. "It's too late. All of this happened… six or seven hours ago?" He said after glancing at the report. "They could be halfway across the Area by now, the only thing it would accomplish is lower our production output and garner more sympathy for the terrorists."

He glared at the other men on the table as the sheer damage they had received today fully sunk in, one corner of his mouth twisting in an ugly sneer. "Yet none of you even considered to inform me earlier, and instead waited until now? What is the meaning of this?"

Bartley leaned in towards the Prince's ear and murmured something too low for Jeremiah to hear. The Prince closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, then turned around with a whirl of his cloak and started walking away. "If we have any prisoners left, I want them executed live on television as soon as they're interrogated." He shouted over his shoulder, making the Generals stand at attention and salute him with a thump. "These terrorists will _not_ be allowed to gloat over their small victory."

Villetta Nu raised her head after the Prince, followed by a nervous Bartley exited the room. Jeremiah strode over with nary a word to the other men and gestured for her to follow him outside. Once they were safely away from the earshot of the guards, he stopped. "How many do _we_ have in captivity?" He asked, clearly meaning the Purist faction rather than the Military at large.

"Two, sir. A man and a woman. We disabled his Knightmare during their retreat after you were… forced to evacuate, it didn't seem like he knew how to pilot it very effectively."

"And the woman?"

"Captured by the infantry after losing her stolen rifle. She tried to flee, but took a bullet to the back of her leg before she could slip away. One of our Knightmares was there to ensure we took authority."

"Lead me to them. Now."

0o0o0o0o0o0

Tamaki sat in a corner of the small, dark cell the Britannians had tossed him into, doing his best to show no outward emotion to his captors who were undoubtedly watching him even now. It was hard work, especially when he kept shivering from nervousness all the while the icy grip of fear held him by the throat.

He had shared his cell for the better part of a day with a woman who refused to give her name, citing hidden microphones and cameras as the reason. He didn't know her - she was just one of the many sympathizers amongst the Japanese living in the ghetto, probably guilty of sheltering one of their members after they retreated.

They had taken her away half an hour ago, by his accounts. The sturdy looking iron door to the cell had opened with a creak before slamming against the concrete wall. Four soldiers, led by a steely eyed woman, had forcibly dragged her crippled body up after she refused to cooperate. Her screaming and cursing was silenced with a well placed fist to the face that left her groaning and dripping blood across the floor before the door slammed shut again, leaving him in darkness interrupted only by a rather antique and dim light bulb swinging above.

The muffled gunshot that echoed down the corridor a few minutes ago had thrown him into full panic. He held onto his knees for dear life, leaning forwards and backwards while repeating an internal mantra to keep himself from breaking down in tears, doing his very best to stay calm.

It had seemed easy at first - break into the research center while the guards were changing shifts and steal a container of poison gas the Britannians were already planning to move somewhere no doubt to use against Japanese civilians. They've been tipped off by one of the Honorary Britannian sympathizers in the Military, who was shocked after learning of its existence.

The soldiers had been caught by complete surprise by their daring raid. Feeling safe so deep in their settlement, no doubt, he had commented to Ohgi at the time with a cocky grin as the lorry drove away with the container on board. Kallen had done an admirable job keeping the occupiers away with their only Knightmare, allowing the lorry with the precious package to disappear in the many tunnels that crisscrossed the underground of the ghetto before diving underground herself.

It had all gone as smoothly as possible, with an added boon of finding an entire train filled with freshly produced Knightmares right out of a Britannian factory while they were doing a staggered retreat out of the underground before dispersing throughout the ghetto. Ohgi had paled at the implications their discovery would have for the entire resistance movement, quickly marshalling the men and women to get into as many Knightmares as they could.

Kallen had rejoined them by then, but barely had the time to replace her power pack and ammunition before the Military was upon them once again. For all their bravery and patriotism, most of their members barely had the knowledge of the basics of Knightmare piloting, and most they could do was make it move around - Tamaki included. Kallen had massacred an entire squad of purists before a lucky shot to her cockpit sent it flying away somewhere far away in the ghetto. He hoped she was fine. If anyone deserved to pilot a Sutherland, it was her.

He looked up with wide eyes as the door slammed open again and interrupted his thoughts, the same guards that took the woman away moving in with raised rifles. Heart thudding, he jumped up obediently, hoping to avoid the same fate that had befallen her. One of the soldiers yelled at him in Britannian, "Hands."

His wrists cuffed behind his back, he was unceremoniously kicked out of the small cell and down the corridor into a different room close by. What he saw when the door opened nearly made him vomit right then and there, but he managed to keep it down while they forced him to take a seat on a metal chair against a metal table.

The room was paved with white tiles that wouldn't have looked out of place in his bathroom. A drain rested beneath his feet, the chairs and table clearly a new addition, making it obvious that it was used for something else entirely. He did his best to look away from the corpse carelessly thrown in the corner of the room to his right, the exit wound on the side of the head covered by black hair that half concealed a peaceful expression on the woman's face.

A man, clearly a high ranking purist if his decorated uniform was anything to go by, looked at him with one visible eye from the other side of the table with an emotionless expression, the other wrapped by a bandage that went around his head. The steely eyed woman he had seen in his cell stood next to him, an uncomfortable expression on her face as she looked away from the corpse and focused on the blood splattered wall above him instead, showing no reaction to his entrance.

"My name is Jeremiah Gottwald, and I am the leader of the purist faction in this Area." The man spoke out in a carefully measured, confident tone. After waiting for a few seconds to gauge Tamaki's reaction, he continued, "I will ask you some questions. If you answer them truthfully, you might live to see the outside of this room again. If you don't, I will not hesitate to execute you right here and now. Do you understand what I am saying?"

He moved his head to look at the still warm corpse before moving his one good eye towards Tamaki in a pointed threat. The rebel's hands shook behind his back, and he felt cold dread settle across his throat like a noose as he shakily nodded, swallowing back bile that rose up at his expression. This man was dangerous, his mind whispered.

Seemingly satisfied with his response, Jeremiah took a folder from the small pile the woman was holding and threw it on the table with a slam that made Tamaki jerk in his seat. He opened it and slowly read down the page, appearing to be in no hurry. "Tamaki… Shinichirō?" He spoke up, shaking his head. "You people have the most brainless of names."

"Twenty four years old, single, an only child with no parents. Known terrorist sympathizer." He closed the folder with another snap. "What do you do for a living, Mister Shinichirō?"

Tamaki nervously swallowed his spit, feeling his hands shake again behind his back before he clenched them into fists. "I-I work in construction. Sir." He quickly added as the other man glared at him even harder at his impertinence, feeling like a deer in front of a pair of headlights while a deep horn blared.

"A construction worker." He stretched the last word like it was particularly important. "Tell me, why did you, as a humble construction worker with fair wages regulated by the Governor, rebel against him? Do you hate Prince Clovis, Mister Shinichirō?"

Tamaki quickly bit back an angry retort as the situation he was in mentally slapped his face. Having a cooling corpse next to one's side could do wonders to curb a man's temper, even if he was as hotheaded as he was. "No sir, I don't." He murmured in a rough voice, looking down at the table.

"I'm afraid I didn't quite catch that." Jeremiah said loudly, voice echoing around the room. Tamaki jerked his gaze up, looking away after a brief glance. By god, the man's glare felt like it was drilling a hole in his head.

"No sir, I don't hate Prince Clovis."

"So why did you rebel, Mister Shinichirō? What were you dissatisfied with?" The purist repeated.

"I-I wanted my country back, sir."

"This country was never yours, you filthy savage." The other man said in a calm, mocking tone. Tamaki would have glared up at him, but kept looking down at the table with gritted teeth while listening to the man continue, "You people were killing each other with your outdated medieval weaponry of awful quality long before our ships reached your shores, and you continued to do it after they did. The only difference, Mister Shinichirō-" He paused to tap the metal table to illustrate his point. "Was that you then did it with weapons we sold you for a fair price, like the good Samaritans we were."

With a truly titanic effort, Tamaki managed to restrain himself from reacting to the man's taunts. Something must have shown on his face, however, as the other man nodded with satisfaction, as if he had confirmed something. "It's good that you know your betters. If you keep that in your mind, you might still see the light of day again."

He leaned forward across the table to get Tamaki's attention, looking down at him. "You see, I am not your enemy, Mister Shinichirō. In fact, I am the exact opposite. Because, right now, I am the only friend you have."

Pausing for a few seconds to let the words sink in, he leaned back again and reopened the file. "Tell me, what were you hoping to achieve with your little mission today?"

Tamaki worked his jaw, choosing his words carefully after realizing the man was right. If he didn't tell the truth, he would quickly be joining the woman in the corner. "We… we were going to steal the poison gas. Destroy it."

Jeremiah gave him a neutral look, folding his gloved hands on top of the table and giving him time to think. "They told us it was going to be used against civilians. Japanese civilians. We couldn't allow them to do that."

"I can assure you, Mister Shinichirō, that container was scheduled for destruction, along with its contents. In fact, the very reason we were so eager to catch you is because we were afraid _you_ people would set it off in the middle of the Settlement, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent, hardworking Britannians."

Tamaki balked at the very thought. "We would never- No. We're not monsters, we just wanted to…" He looked down at the metal surface, shaking his head from side to side in denial. Then again, Ohgi had never told him what exactly their plan was after they managed to bring the container back to their base. Would they pass it onto one of the more radical groups, who wouldn't hesitate to use it on civilians themselves? It made his head whirl. He knew he wasn't a particularly bright guy, but he also felt he was smart enough to think he knew what was the best thing to do in such a situation.

He looked up with tears of anger in his eyes, glaring at the other man before lowering his gaze again and clicking his tongue with impotence. For all his boasting and tough look, he had a good soul and a gentle heart. Massacring countless civilians wouldn't help their cause - just the opposite.

Jeremiah had clearly gotten to the same conclusion, giving him the final push he needed. "If you help us find it, Mister Shinichirō, I give you my word that it will be disposed of safely, while your comrades will be treated fairly. All you need to do is help me."

Tamaki took a deep breath, making up his mind. "After... escaping into the underground, the plan was to use the tunnels to get away from the ghetto and circle around until the search stopped, then..." He cut off, taking another deep breath to steady himself. He felt lightheaded.

Jeremiah plowed on without care. "And the Knightmares you stole? Where were you taking them?"

"I..." Tamaki paused, looking up at the fluorescent lighting in thought. The lightheadedness was making him dizzy, and the light above looked so warm and inviting. What was he doing? He thought about Ohgi, about Kallen and everyone else. All of them were still out there, fighting for what they believed in, while he sat in a metal box that reeked of death and fear, telling a Purist all of their secrets. It made him sick to his stomach.

He looked back down at the other man, head lolling to the side. "The base, Mister Shinichirō. Where are your Headquarters?" Jeremiah repeated. It sounded like he was so far, far away from him. He felt something in his head click, and with a start, his vision cleared. They were both looking at him oddly now, and all he saw in their eyes was contempt and sheer _hate_ they held for him. For what he was. It made him laugh, so he laughed in their faces.

Jeremiah leaned back in his chair with an odd gaze. He shared a quick look with Viletta. "Did you tell them to give him something before he was brought here?"

"No, sir. I…" She trailed off as he began laughing harder, rocking his chair back and forth along the slick, bloody tiles before the noise died down into chuckles, the frame creaking under him.

"You Britannian _bastards_. You thought you could convince me to betray my friends?" He started laughing again at their blank expressions, feeling like all of his worries had simply flown away like a flock of birds startled by a gunshot. "Over my dead body, you jumped up little shit." He declared, hurling a great glob of spit right at the man's fancy tunic.

Jeremiah spoke up without moving his gaze, gnashing his teeth in anger. "Bring the truth serums. This… ungrateful savage will tell me where it is, one way or another."

Tamaki looked up at the light again, his heart thudding so hard in his chest he thought it would burst. Yet it felt light, lighter than it ever had. Naoto's face flashed through his mind again, and he looked down with a confident grin, eyes flashing like a madman. "I'll see you hell, Britannian. _Long live Japan_." He screamed in Japanese before going through with his hastily constructed plan.

Villetta paused just before exiting the doorway as a muffled yell resounded from behind her. Turning around, she gasped and pressed a hand over her mouth. From her position, she could see the rebel sitting still, yet shaking like a leaf in the wind. Thick, syrupy blood poured from his lips, and he started shaking even harder while letting out a muffled scream of sheer agony from his closed mouth that chilled her to her very bone, his eyes still shining with pure determination.

Jeremiah stood up and pulled out his pistol with a growl, aiming it right at Tamaki's forehead with a sneer of disgust on his face. "It's a mercy you don't deserve, but… you first, you _animal_." She quickly looked away with closed eyes as a gunshot resounded through the room and down the corridor outside. A sliding noise preceded a thump as the body fell to the floor from the chair, joining its counterpart in the corner in an unceremonious heap.

Jeremiah took several deep breaths before re-holstering his sidearm and pulling Viletta's motionless figure outside by the arm, slamming the door to the cell shut behind him. She took several deep breaths, savoring the relatively clean air after the ripe stench of death inside and doing her best to keep the contents of her lunch down.

"This is what we're fighting against, Viletta."

"Sir?" She whispered, wiping her eyes. When one piloted a Knightmare, it was easy to feel disconnected from the killing. You would aim, press a button, and care about the consequences as little as possible. It almost felt like a game, with how easy it was. Her Military training had desensitized her to most things one could encounter on the battlefield, but what just transpired inside that room made her sick to her stomach.

"If one of us bit off our own tongue to stop the enemy from learning our secrets, he would be heralded as a hero. But that man?" He took a deep, shaky breath to calm himself down before he did something he would regret. "He did it to defend his terrorist comrades and the weapon they have. The weapon that could kill half of this settlement within hours."

"I-I understand, sir."

"No, you don't. This is one of the many reasons these savages should be put down before they rise up against us. The very thought of allowing them to serve amongst us makes my blood _boil_." He paused for a moment after shouting the last word, beckoning over a few infantrymen and telling them to clean out the room. "I'll report this to the Viceroy, and discuss the matter of that pilot with him. You should get some rest, if you can."

"Yes sir, thank you. I will."

She watched him stride away before shakily turning around to have another look at the bodies at the other side of the doorway. For a moment, she thought she felt the same pang of terror _he_ must have had while sitting in that chair. If they were willing to go so far to protect each other, what would they do to their own prisoners? What would they do to Kewell?

The door slammed shut behind the two guards, cutting off her line of sight and train of thought before it could rampage any further off the tracks. _Savages_ indeed.

0o0o0o0o0o0

* * *

A/N: Hi there, and thanks for reading. Merry Christmas to all of my Orthodox readers, I wish you all the best during this year.

I believe this is the longest chapter I've ever written, coming in very close to 10.000 words without this obnoxiously large A/N. How exciting. It was a lot of fun to write, and I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it.

Speaking of your thoughts, you'll probably be glad to hear I've read your reviews and improved the last two chapters accordingly. If you felt bothered reading them before, please feel free to go back and give them another look. As always, I welcome any criticism you have.

In more exciting news, I'm hoping to finally get my PC fixed next week, which will make writing _a lot_ easier for me, as long as I can keep myself away from the clutches of Europa Universalis IV and Hearts of Iron III.

See you next week.

Special thanks to ~AverageLucas for proofreading and helping with this chapter.


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